


Wavering

by purpledragonturtles



Series: Open Heart series [1]
Category: Open Heart (Visual Novel)
Genre: Derogatory Language, Doctors & Physicians, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hospitals, Medical Conditions, Medical Jargon, Medicine, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:47:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22975717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purpledragonturtles/pseuds/purpledragonturtles
Summary: All those emotions swirling around inside ought to be doing something to her.
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart), Ethan Ramsey/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Open Heart series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1651108
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm new here. I've been playing Pixelberry's Choices for years now and I've been obsessed with Open Heart for a year now. Yesterday, they published the first chapter of the second book. I replayed it at least five times! Soooo, I decided to take some of the dialogues and adapt them to a more in depth consideration of MC's ( Dr. Leah Andersson's) thoughts and feelings.  
> Even though Leah is bubbly usually, I gave her a troubled back story, which I hope will slowly come out as the book progresses.  
> All in all I was happy about the first chapter even though Ethan is acting like a butt, but hey, we've got other n chapters left for him to come around. I ship them completely! :3  
> I hope you like it :P
> 
> all characters except Dr. Leah Andersson belong to Pixelberry. What I did is a readaptation of the chapter, by no means whatsoever am I the creator of the plot and characters

It was almost midnight, ten seconds on the clock, then Leah and her fellow roommates would once and for all be second-year residents and not interns anymore. Leah’s brow furrowed and her eyes focused on the second hand of the clock on the other side of the open bar. Every noise completely forgotten, not even hearing the house music playing in the background.

“Midnight!” Leah yelled throwing her fist in the air and smiling broadly at her friends.

“We did it! Intern year is officially over,” Elijah grinned and high-fived her.

“Good riddance,” said Jackie, smiling ruefully.

Sienna started drumming on the table woohooing happily. Leah laughed.

Bryce sat down sighing.

“Once again, it looks like I have good timing,” he said setting down a fresh round of beers on the table you were sitting at behind Donohue’s.

“to kicking ass and running Edenbrook… as second-year residents!” Bryce cheered raising his beer. You all join him in a toast.

“I’ll always look back fondly at our first year,” Leah said, “after all it gave me the ability to meet you guys and impact and save so many lives, to change them even for only one second.”

“Aww!” Sienna cooed in agreement.

“Hear, hear,” Elijah bowed his head towards you.

“These hands did save a lot of lives last year,” said Bryce staring at his hands, smirking slightly.

“I’d love to compare our outcomes, scalpel jockey,” taunted Jackie.

“Oh, you only wish, nose wiper,” he laughed poking Jackie in the ribs. They had been getting on better since your summer vacation.

“I can’t believe it’s only been a year since we’ve met, it feels like a lifetime and so many things have happened. So many things have already changed and only our intern year has gone by!” Sienna squealed.

Leah and Elijah look at the seat Landry used to occupy and sigh, then look at each other and shrug sadly. Leah was still torn between hating Landry’s guts and being happy that such a person was out of her life. Every time she thought about him, her anxiety flared up and she couldn’t help but dig her nails into her palms. She looked down at her hands which were looking pretty beaten up since she had been digging her nails into them all summer. She had also fallen back into a few bad habits she thought she had overcome. Suddenly, she was overcome by the urge to cry and punch the wall. She had taken up running during her time off work, she had spent her summer evenings running on Boston’s skyline listening to punk-rock music. Also, she had restarted smoking and punching things. The nagging thoughts about Landry and the situation between her and Ethan had her spiraling towards a series of anxiety-ridden days in which she saw no one. She had left town for a week without telling anyone. Her roommates would have been worried sick if she hadn’t left them a note. “I’m in NYC visiting a few college friends. See you next week,” she had written, before running out of the apartment. She didn’t go to New York, she had spent a week in Maine, not talking to anyone, just studying and sipping tea underneath a majestic lighthouse. She had wanted to send Ethan a text, but she thought better of it since he hated texting. He apparently didn’t mind the silence, the same silence that was knowing at her inside making it impossible for her to think. He hadn’t even said good-bye to her before leaving for his project in the Amazon.

“I’m so proud of us for making it this far. Together,” Leah said still lost in her thoughts.

“And with our medical licenses intact,” Jackie piped. Leah felt her stomach drop further down.

“Don’t tease her, Jackie! I still have nightmares about the ethics hearing,” Sienna reprimanded.

“You’re not the only one,” Leah said, tears threatening to appear in her eyes. She didn’t want to think about that day or about what went down that evening between Ethan and her.

“If you’d left Edenbrook, Leah, I don’t know what we would have done. Dr. Ramsey would have surely been upset beyond any wrath we’ve seen,” Sienna said scratching her head. Leah froze. Sienna had made the mistake of saying _his_ name.

“ _I_ for one would have stolen her spot on the diagnostics team,” Jackie grinned.

“Speaking of the diagnostics team,” Elijah started, apparently not getting the memo of not talking about Ethan, he then nodded in Leah’s direction. Leah looks around to see what he was on about. Her eyes fall on Ethan standing near the door of the outdoor patio. _Well, shit…_

“He’s back!” said Sienna surprisedly.

Leah’s mind froze once again. She wanted to get up and hug him, slap him and run away all at once. Ethan was back from the Amazon. _Her_ Ethan was standing fifteen feet from her. He was a bit aloof, thinking intensely about something, strolling into the beer garden. His beard had grown a bit thicker, his hair about the same length but a bit wilder than the last Leah had seen him. Strangely enough, he wasn’t wearing his usual light blue shirt, but he was donning a cream-colored shirt, washed out jeans and a worn green leather jacket. Color rushed to Leah’s face as she took in his appearance. She felt the impulse to stare at her hands and try to hide from him, but her eyes were glued to him, desperate for him to see her.

“He looks so different,” hissed Sienna. Leah rolled her eyes.

“Fighting an outbreak in the Amazon for two months with W.H.O will do that to a guy,” Jackie agreed.

Ethan walked by and just as Leah thought he hadn’t noticed her, their eyes met for the first time in what felt like forever. Her green-brown eyes met his blue ones and Leah was immediately dragged back to June, to the morning after he had spent the night at her place. Everything had been so perfect, yet so chaotic, but she cherished that memory fondly. They had crossed a line, she knew that, but she somehow wasn’t worried. He had been troubled by day one.

“Rookie…” Ethan breathed. He sounded breathless, like he hadn’t breathed fresh air in some time. Leah shook her head; she was probably imagining things. He couldn’t have missed her, or he would have called her.

“It’s good to have you back, Dr. Ramsey, but as of sixty seconds ago, I’m not a rookie anymore, I’m officially a resident,” Leah smiled trying her best to jam all her thoughts in the back of her head.

“I expect you won’t be making any more rookie mistakes then, Dr. Andersson,” he smiled back slightly, his eyes shining in the low light, then continues on and goes to sit by himself at the inside bar, out of Leah’s sight.

“I _have_ to grow a beard like that, then maybe our patients won’t think I’m fifteen anymore,” Elijah said in awe.

Leah’s thoughts were swarming so much her head was spinning, and she was sure it wasn’t the alcohol since she had barely drunk half her beer.

“So, are you nervous?” Sienna asked nudging her.

“What—me? What do I have to be nervous about?” Leah asked. Sienna knew about what had happened with Ethan, well, she knew most of it, but Leah had left out the details and the fact that her heart was crushed.

“Tomorrow’s your first day as the Junior fellow on the diagnostics team! I’d be freaking out,” Sienna said.

“Great, Sienna. If she wasn’t nervous before, she is now,” Jackie facepalmed herself.

“It will definitely be a change of pace, if we were walking before, now I’ll be running everywhere, juggling our normal cases and these harder, less known cases,” Leah sighed running her hands through her hair. Her hair had grown quite a few inches during the past few months, her usually loosely curled hair was now a wavy mess down to her elbows. She was going to cut it one of these days, she had already had to call off two hairdresser’s appointments because she couldn’t bring herself to interact with anyone except her roommates. Leah knew she was slipping back under the veil that had pushed her to graduate a year early from med school but made three years of her life completely silent. She hadn’t spoken with anyone except her parents and professors for two years, her GPA was stellar, but everything else was in ruins.

“I’ve worked with Ramsey a lot, but I was his intern, now I’m sort of his colleague, so I’ll have different responsibilities, I’ll have my own patients and we’ll be on a team, so who knows,” Leah shrugged.

“He’s still your boss, he can still make your life hell,” Elijah raised an eyebrow.

“At least this year, _we_ have our own interns to torture,” Jackie laughed.

“Jackie, we can’t torture them, it’s our responsibility to teach them how the system works,” Sienna said sounding astonished.

“My point exactly, I’m going to teach mine the meaning of fear,” Jackie replied coolly.

“Geez, now _I’m_ afraid,” Elijah said, “it’s like the first day of school all over again. I’m going to have nightmares about being relegated to the nerdy kids’ table.”

“Well, I’m excited! I can’t believe you guys are so down on the interns, we were them until a few hours ago,” Sienna remarked.

“I, for one, can’t wait to teach someone how to help people, I think we need all the doctors we can get nowadays, but we’ve got to train them properly, and I’m really hoping I don’t get a dead-weight,” Leah muttered.

“Speech,” Bryce laughed hitting her shoulder playfully, “man, I’m glad surgical second-years don’t have to deal with this. I’m going to kick back and watch while you guys wrangle mini versions of yourselves.”

“I’m a colossal pain in the ass and I _really_ hope I don’t get another one of me,” Leah sighed. She was already exhausted; her insomnia hadn’t been kind as of late. _Thank the world for cosmetics_.

“I would really love to see that,” Jackie joked. Leah smiled and gave her the finger to which Jackie laughed throwing her head back.

They kept talking for another hour until Leah got up to get everyone a shot for the road, thankfully they would be taking the T back to their apartment. She went back inside and waited patiently as Reggie served other patrons nearby.

“What’s a pretty little thing like yourself doing all on your lonesome? I could fix that,” said a black-haired man at a table next to the counter.

Leah turned around to see that the sneer belonged to Dr. Thorne, a plastic surgeon from Edenbrook, and that he was looming over a young woman with brown hair. The woman seemed unfazed though, as she kept sipping her beer calmly.

“Pass,” the woman shrugged.

“Damn, you’re uptight. Maybe another drink would loosen you up,” Dr. Thorne continued. Leah was about to gag. _Fucking creep_. Dr. Thorne pressed a hand to the small of the woman’s back, but in a split second the woman had slammed his hand onto the counter with a satisfying crack.

“You _fucking slut_ , you broke my hand!” Dr. Thorne yelled as he shoved her sending her toppling onto the floor, beer bottles crashing to the floor. A shard of glass ricocheted against a stool and cut through her leg. The woman cursed.

Leah rolled her eyes and, in a few strides, got between Dr. Thorne and the girl, holding her hands up.

“Get out of the way, she broke my hand. I’m a plastic surgeon! I’m pressing charges, do you know how much I’m going to sue that bitch for?” Dr. Thorne yelled again, getting ready to ram himself through Leah to get to the woman.

“Dude, if you’re such the plastic surgeon then you won’t really need to sue anyone, now will you!” Leah yelled pushing him back. He raised a fist although her was close enough for Leah to smell the alcohol on his breath.

“What are you going do? Do you want to break your other hand, too?” Leah asked calmly. She had trained in yoga and martial arts for years, her instincts were top notch, every nerve taut, ready for a fight. She really needed a good brawl and she knew that her face was asking for it.

“Garrett, that’s enough,” Ethan said approaching the ruffled trio. Leah turned to look at him. _Can he ever not look good?_ Leah thought angrily.

“You still have a good hand, don’t you? Put it to use and call yourself a cab,” Ethan continued, by now her was standing next to Leah. He was too close, their arms touching. Leah’s head was spinning again, worse than before, so she turned around to look for the woman and to try not to puke on Ethan’s shoes. The girl was gone, but Leah saw the back door close in time to connect the dots, she grabbed a towel and some grain alcohol and ran after her.

The woman was outside breathing deeply and trying to pull she shards of glass out of her leg.

“Hey, you okay?” Leah asked.

“I’m great, never better,” the girl muttered.

“Let me help, please,” Leah tried.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I’m a doctor and you have glass shards in your leg, you need help and you don’t have to be alone right now,” Leah said.

The woman looked at Leah and sighed, she lifted her leg to allow Leah room to look at it.

“They’re not deep, but still they hurt like hell,” Leah said.

“Have you got in that many bar fights?” the woman smiled.

“More or less,” Leah said. Sadness tugging at her. All the beatings she had received as a child were creeping up on her. She wet her hands with the alcohol and started working on the girl’s leg.

“You know, I didn’t need saving,” the girl said after a moment of silence. She hadn’t flinched away from the pain, but her eyes were gleaming.

“I know, but someone else had to speak up as well. It wasn’t a one-man fight,” Leah glanced at her. The girl smiled slightly.

“I messed him up pretty badly, huh?” she said.

“He’ll be fine, he shouldn’t have messed with such a bad-ass in the first place,” Leah grinned. She laughed.

“Well, I’m done here. Wait a second, okay. I could patch you up a bit better if we went to the hospital, I work at Edenbrook a few blocks away,” Leah said.

“I’ll be fine. Thanks,” the woman said and walked off down the alley without looking back.

Leah sighed, took a big swig from the bottle and headed back inside. As she neared the counter to put the rag into the wash and the alcohol back down, she saw Ethan push Thorne into an Uber before coming back inside. Leah turned around as he walked in; their encounters that evening had been already enough.

“Whoa, Leah, what went down in here?” Elijah asked wheeling up to her. Her friends had all started filing inside, getting ready to go home.

“You know Dr. Thorne, the plastic surgeon? He got into an altercation with a girl he wouldn’t leave alone,” Leah explained. Her sleeveless black shirt made her tan arms stand out and her green pants made her look like she had just stepped out of an action movie. She slipped on the grey muscle tee she had brought as a sweatshirt.

“I always knew that guy was gross,” Jackie frowned.

“Okay people, last call. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here,” Reggie called from behind the counter.

“Already? I’m not even remotely ready for tomorrow,” Leah said.

“We can stay out and explore if you want,” Bryce offered.

“I’m going to get me, myself and I a midnight snack,” Jackie sighed.

“ _We_ are going home, we’re beat and in twenty minutes we’d like to be laying comfily on our beds,” chimed Elijah as Sienna leaned on his chair.

You glance back toward the bar and see that Ethan hasn’t moved from his usual spot where Reggie is topping off his drink. _Apparently last call doesn’t apply to everyone._

“I’ll stay back to discuss a few things with Dr. Ramsey, I’ll come later,” Leah shrugged and waved at them before heading to the counter.

“Don’t stay out too late. Remember, Aurora is coming over before our shift to drop her stuff off,” Sienna called after her. Leah nodded absentmindedly as she walked across the pub.

“Leah, thank you for earlier,” Reggie said blowing her a kiss. She grinned and bowed her head.

“Say, last call doesn’t apply to you?” she asked Ethan hopping on a stool next to him.

“Hey Rook—sorry, Leah. Force of habit. Reggie and I go back. We’ve got an arrangement,” Ethan explained.

“Is that what you call your friendships now?” Leah teased.

“I don’t have friends, but… I wouldn’t mind you joining me if you were so inclined,” he said. Leah blushed; she was so frustrated and yet, she wanted to jump into his arms. He couldn’t act distant for two months and then ask her to join him for drinks and have her wrapped around his finger in ten seconds. It wasn’t fair.

“Sure, why not,” she smiled politely, even though she was internally screaming at him, “so we’ve got ourselves a brand-new Ethan Ramsey. It suits you, even though I’ll miss your sweater,” she pointed out his jacket.

“Duly noted, what about the beard?” he asked smiling, his eyes fixed on hers. Leah was dying inside, she was flat-lining and there was no one there to save her. The jacket, his thick beard, his eyes, his perfume, _him_ : he brought back too many emotions she had tried to suppress.

“Everyone will miss your famous jawline, but I like it, it gives you a more wholesome look,” she said breathing deeply. Ethan scratched his beard thoughtfully, the same way he’d gone about scratching his then stubble back in June.

“I’m used to it now.”

Leah looked around, realizing they were the only ones left except for Reggie who had left them at the counter and had started turning off the lights in the side rooms.

“Why don’t we go outside? Winter will be here soon enough, we might as well enjoy the weather while we can,” Ethan said bumping against Leah’s shoulder, she nodded quickly and got up. The closeness to him was making her blush profusely.

“You want something to drink?” he nodded her way.

“Whatever you’re having,” she chirped and made her way toward the beer garden just as he grabbed a bottle of tequila from behind the counter, he was halfway across the room when he turned back and dipped to grab a bottle of scotch as well. Leah chuckled at him.

“Reggie, we’re borrowing these—What are you laughing at?” he asked walking outside.

“You’re—nothing,” she shut her mouth before she broke the balance they had somehow found. She was already a bit loopy; he wasn’t too sober himself: Leah didn’t want to risk saying something she’d then regret, but she already knew it was bound to happen.

Ethan sat near a fire pit with charcoals still alight and Leah scooted in next to him.

“I can see why you like it here,” Leah stated.

“Because no one’s annoying me?” he said.

“Well, except me. It’s peaceful,” she smiled looking at the garden.

“You don’t annoy me, Rookie.”

Leah turned to stare at the fire for a moment. Ethan was looking at her and she was happily avoiding looking at him. He was mesmerized by her, he’d never admit it, but her long red hair was etching itself into his mind. The flames made it stand out even more, it was longer than he’d even seen it. He was in a daze, her hair, the color of her skin, the sound of her voice. He had been thinking of her the whole time he’d been away, giving them space, in hope of fixing the line they had crossed multiple times in June. Long story short, he had spent two months beating himself up because he was falling for her. He saw the pictures she had posted on her social media. She looked happy and carefree. He, on the other hand, felt like and anvil had been tied to his chest. He didn’t want her to risk her career, not for him, not for someone she would realize wasn’t good at relationships. He could deal with his feelings, with the temptation.

“So… this Dr. Thorne, should I be worried about him?” Leah asked pulling him from his daze.

“He was a good amount of influence but stay out of his way for a few weeks and he’ll forget who you are entirely.”

“But not who _you_ are. Should you be worried?” she asked. Typical Leah, worrying for someone else first.

“I’ve worked too hard to get where I am to give a damn about what someone like him thinks. Don’t think twice about that asshole. What you did back there, helping that girl? I saw you. You did the right thing. That’s all that matters.”

“I would say you’re right, but we both know that’s not true,” Leah sighed.

“Of course, I’m right,” he grinned.

“Good to see your ego’s intact. Seriously, though, I don’t want trouble,” she said.

“What you did was brave. You’ve always been brave in the face of disaster and death, of course, but it’s different when you’re facing down to a superior. It’s different when you stand up to them for what’s right,” Ethan said, his eyes getting lost in the fire and in Leah’s hair.

“It’s not as brave as venturing into the depths of the Amazon to fight an epidemic, that’s for sure,” Leah said catching him off guard. She really didn’t get it, did she?

“That’s not bravery, Leah,” Ethan said lowly.

They were silent for a moment, everything still except the fire crackling from the fire pits.

“Why did you leave and why didn’t you keep in touch? No word from you at all for two months. After all that happened between us?” she asked abruptly. His head jerked in her direction and he saw that she was eyeing him with her doe eyes. 

“Everything that happened between us is exactly why I didn’t contact you. Leah, if we’re going to work together on the diagnostics team, we need a fresh start. Your professional development is too important to jeopardize it with whatever—whatever it was we had,” he said. He was on the verge of cracking, letting go of all his restraints and kiss her like she deserved to be. As he finished speaking her could he it in her eyes that he’d hurt a part of her. _She was waiting for you, you idiot_ , his mind scolded him. He was suddenly gasping for air. She had waited. She still wanted him. She hadn’t moved on. She was as broken as he was.

“Past tense, nice,” she said sarcastically, staring at her feet. Leah was an inch from breaking into a million pieces like a falling glass.

“Yes, and the past is where it has to stay,” Ethan says looking at her, their eyes lock. The moment might have lasted five minutes or five seconds, they just sat there looking at each other, silently speaking volumes, X-raying each other. In a snap second, Leah leans forward and catches his lips in hers. Ethan tensed but he couldn’t pull away. For the first time in two months, he finally felt alive, he felt like electricity was going through him and she was the source, like he was on his first high after months of being sober. Her pink lips tasted divine, as soft a peaches and flowers. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed that kiss, he needed her. His hands slipped to her waist as hers made their way through his hair, her touch enough to make him lose any train of thought.

Leah leaned back too soon, staring at him only a few inches away. He was in pain again and he knew it was etched on his face, mixed with his want, his need.

“Dammit, Leah…” he swore.

“If you don’t want to kiss me again, just say so since you’re so good at deciding every—” she started.

“You think I’m happy? I want to kiss you, a lot actually, but I can’t. If I really care about you, I won’t risk to complicate your life; it’ll already do that on its own. How am I supposed to push you to be everything you can be if I —”

“If you what? Ethan, we’ve been over this,” Leah said through her teeth. Ethan was pleading, he looked at her, chewing on the corner of his lips not breaking eye contact with her, then slowly turned to stare at the ground, swirling the bottle of scotch in his hands.

“Okay, I get it. You know what—I actually don’t, but, hey, who actually gives a fuck, not you apparently, because you couldn’t bother to actually talk to _me_ , the other half of whatever this... whatever, I’ll see you tomorrow, Dr. Ramsey,” she threw her hands in the air. She was angry now.

“Rookie—” he started.

“Don’t you dare, don’t you Rookie me. You’re my boss and I’m your fellow, you’ve made that plenty clear, so stand by it or don’t, I don’t fucking care anymore, okay?” she yelled at him. He looked like she had slapped him.

“Goodnight, Dr. Andersson,” he mumbled chewing at the inside of his cheeks.

Leah stormed out of the beer garden and was running before she hit the road in front of Donohue’s. Ethan a few steps behind, he had almost caught up to her when she took off running down the street.

“Damn she’s fast,” he muttered to himself. Ethan returned to the beer garden and poured himself a drink. One drink became five and so on. He was so angry with himself that he threw the bottle of scotch to the ground after emptying it. He had never seen her so angry either; he knew she wasn't one to back down from an argument, but now she had been furious. He had hurt her, he was trying to protect her from him, and save her career from flopping now that her ethics hearing had gone well. He wanted to kick himself. He hurt one of the two people he actually cared about. With thoughts swirling around his drunk brain, Ethan fell asleep on a swing, the wind gently tousling his hair. His thoughts about returning to Edenbrook kept getting tangled with seas of flaming red hair.


	2. Chapter 2

Leah kept running, she didn’t look back. She couldn’t see where she was going, anyway, no point in looking back. Her eyes swimming, as she ran, tears falling down her cheeks. At one point she started sobbing, which made running impossible. Her legs gave out in the middle of the street and sobbed. She was so angry, so frustrated, so _hurt_. She felt stupid, so stupid. 

After a few minutes, in that she didn’t exactly like the idea of being run over, Leah got up and walked a few more blocks to her apartment. She opened the door as quietly as she could and hurriedly went to her room. She had recently redecorated since her uncle had given her some money for her birthday a few years back and she had no idea what to do with it. She had painted the walls dark grey with strong blue hues and had quite a few wooden shelves full of books. Her bed had been pushed back to the furthest end of the room, near the window which was adorned with cream and copper curtains.

Her desk sat next to her bed and since she barely ever used it since she usually sat on her bed to study or work on cases, it was used as a laptop and teacup holder, her cactus sitting there bringing solace to the room. Her journals were strewn on her desk, too. They were way too exposed for her liking. In only two months, she had filled two journals to the brim. She spoke there everything she couldn’t say aloud. She shoved them in their spot in one of the box-shaped shelves opposite the foot of her bed. She felt at peace in that room, or at least she would if she wasn’t constantly reminded about the night Ethan had spent there since he’d left his undershirt. Leah didn’t have the guts to wash it, even if it was only a silly undershirt. It still smelled like him; his faint cologne trapped in the fibers of the black shirt. Even not seeing him was painful; he tormented wherever she went.

She threw herself on her bed, kicking off her shoes. She felt like a semi had run her over. Soon enough, troubled sleep dragged her into unconsciousness.

Leah woke up a few hours later to the sound of people walking around: Aurora must have already arrived to drop her stuff off. She glared at her alarm clock; it was only 6 a.m. She took advantage of the situation and slipped into the shower. She ran the water scorching hot, it had to be hot enough to almost peel her skin off. She pressed her forehead against the cold wall.

The day was about to start, and she’d rather be anywhere but near Edenbrook. She wanted to run away. As soon as she met her intern, she would take a few of her vacation days to get out of Boston. She needed to escape again, and she hadn’t even gone back to work. She loved her job, but Edenbrook felt too crowded; it was too full of Ethan Ramsey. She loved being a doctor, she became a doctor because of all the illness and pain she had seen her parents face growing up and because Ethan Ramsey himself had inspired her to in a keynote speech at a NYU conference on idiosyncratic Migraines in New York she had attended. They had briefly spoken after his speech. Before starting at Edenbrook, she doubted he even remembered such a thing, but she had been proven wrong when he had brought it up once when they were getting coffee in his office.

She graduated med school three years later, skipping her junior year, Valedictorian of her class, magna cum laude. She had matched so many schools that she had to ask her sister to help her sort through all the letters. Only a few schools piqued her interest: Edenbrook, Massachusetts General and a hospital in Los Angeles. Edenbrook had phoned her twenty minutes after she sent them an email to arrange times for an interview. She had spoken to Dr. Emery, someone muttering words at her in the background, now that she thought about it, that someone was probably Ethan. After a brief interview with Dr. Emery, she signed her residency contract. She was the first to be chosen. As she was walking out of the hospital, she looked up at the high ceilings which gave view of the shining sun outside.

So much had changed in only a year. Her mental health spiraling out of balance again. Her eyes were darker, still captivating but it looked like a light bulb had gone out behind them . She wasn’t like this with her friends, but when she was alone everything felt cold and heavy; all she wanted to do was sleep.

Leah quickly washed and rinsed herself off, turning the water to the coldest setting. She stood there, slowly becoming numb. She got out of the shower and quickly towel dried her hair. She pulled on her scrubs and sighed; those blue scrubs were her life and her death. Her red hair still wet from the shower, she blow-dried it for a few minutes as she glared at herself in the mirror: she really didn’t like wearing makeup, but it was for work. She put on a nude-pink matte lipstick and lightly brushed her eyes with tan eyeshadow and black eyeliner.

She stepped out of the bathroom, crossed the hall to grab her backpack and went to the kitchen. Her roommates were all sitting at the table having breakfast. Leah grabbed her thermos and filled it with coffee.

“Hey, you were out late,” said Sienna eyeing her.

“Yeah, we talked a lot. We’ll have so much to do on the team, in fact I should get going because I need to check in with everyone,” Leah said.

“Oh, come on, have breakfast!” Jackie whined jokingly. Leah rolled her eyes and humored her by sitting down and shoving a piece of buttered toast into her mouth. As she finished chewing, she grabbed a waffle and ran out of the door yelling “see you later” to everyone.

She ran to catch the T, making it to the platform seconds before the doors closed. She jammed her headphone into her ears and turned up the volume. Lately, her indie bands weren’t cutting it; she needed her punk music, at least in the morning. Leah sipped her coffee as she watched the sun start rising higher in the sky from the moving vehicle.

She arrived in front of Edenbrook ten minutes later. She looked up at the imposing building, the morning sun had already started glinting off it, sending gold rays everywhere. She smiled. It was nice to be back there, she loved the place, but she was nervous about bumping into Dr. Ramsey everywhere she went. The night before popped into her mind, as she crossed the driveway in front of the hospital and let herself in through the revolving door. She had yelled at him; she had run away from the person she missed most. She had kissed him then she had bolted, in return he had hurt her, he had shattered her more than the months apart already had.

She was so lost in her thoughts, that she immediately bumped into someone.

“Oh, sorry—” she mumbled. The man she bumped into turned out to be Dr. Thorne from the night before. He glared at her angrily, eyeing her badge as though he wanted to burn a hole through her chest. His right hand was in a brace. _Not broken, just sprained._

“Dr. Andersson is it?” she sneered at her.

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry for your hand, excuse me,” Leah said flatly, her anger rising up to her shoulders. Leah strode away from him, crossing the atrium quickly.

At the foot of the stairs, you see Dr. Banerji talking with other residents, you join them.

“I’ll say this a million times this morning, since most residents haven’t arrived yet. It is my deepest pleasure as Chief of Medicine to welcome you back to Edenbrook. Another year awaits!” he said smiling. The resident quickly thanked him in turn and went toward their wards.

“Ah, Leah!” he said looking at her fondly. Leah wanted to start crying right then and there, she wanted to tell Naveen about Ethan. She was tired of keeping everything hidden. She was tired of feeling like a leaf in the wind.

“Good morning,” she mumbled giving a small smile.

“How are you? I hope Ethan isn’t giving you too much trouble,” Dr. Banerji said looking at her from above his square glasses. Dr. Banerji looked so much better than the year before, he looked strong, and nothing even near the frail man he was only a few months earlier.

“I’m okay, I’m a bit nervous. I actually haven’t heard him that much,” Leah answered. Dr. Banerji’s eyes narrowed on hers and he sighed. He was about to say something, but Dr. Emery strolled up to you and leaned against him grinning at you.

“I’ll catch you later, we’ve got a few things to sort through. Go to the diagnostics room, you’ll find your colleagues there. Oh, and we’re hosting the Governor today, so please hone your intern,” Naveen said looking at Leah.

“Oh, and Leah…” he started as he walked off, “relax, you’ll do great.”

She stood at the foot of the stairs looking dumbfounded. She knew the diagnostics room and labs were on the fifth floor, just like Dr. Ramsey’s office. She headed towards the elevators and got on the first available one. Thankfully, there was no sign of Dr. Ramsey anywhere. Her phone vibrated in the pocket, she took it out: 1 new message. The text was from Jackie. It read:

Good luck in the big pond, little fish.

Leah smiled and sent her a quick text tot thank her. Jackie wasn’t exactly an easy person to get along with, but she cared a lot and once she opened up, she was one of the best supporters Leah had. She shoved her phone back in her pocket and stepped off the elevator. She quickly walked to the diagnostics hallway, eyeing Ethan’s office as she walked by. The overhead lights were turned off, but a lamp could be faintly seen through the darkened glass door.

She took a right at the end of the hallway and stepped into a sleek office with light blue furniture and glass walls so thick they muffled the hospital intercoms. Leah was astonished. She had no idea there was a room like this in the hospital. She looked around: the room was full of books and expensive computers. She walked up to the white board and traced her fingers on the marker rack slowly. She had made it, she was a fellow, she was on the team. She felt like she was eleven all over again: she had tried out for track and field at her middle school. She had been so nervous she had run a five-minute mile, it had won her a place in the school’s hall of fame.

“I’m here. I’m really here,” Leah breathed almost smiling.

“Hey, me too,” a voice said making her jump and turn around. She hadn’t noticed a man reclining on the couch behind the pages of a medical journal.

“Zaid?! You’re on the team, am I hallucinating?” Leah said shocked.

“Ah, I take it you were one of my twin brother’s residents,” the man chuckled. He looked exactly like Zaid but was the opposite all the same. HE offered Leah his hand and she shook it still a bit startled.

“Baz Mirani is the name, Immunology is the game. Well, game slash specialty,” she smiled. He had dark features just like Zaid, his beard long and thick, but his eyes sparkled when he spoke.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even know Zaid had a brother, nonetheless a twin,” Leah said shyly.

“I know, he doesn’t like to talk about me. He always went out of his way to prove we were different. He actually tried to be a teacher for a few years out of college. Third graders! Can you imagine?” Baz laughed.

“Actually… no. Poor third graders,” Leah said. Baz laughed.

“He couldn’t resist his love for medicine long. That’s why I’m a few years ahead of him career wise,” Baz explained, “and why I transferred here to Edenbrook to be with him.”

“I bet he _loved_ that,” Leah muttered ironically.

“He did not! Oh, you were being ironic. I’m not great with tones. June’s more of the perceptive type,” he said sitting back down on the couch and gesturing towards the door where a woman with black hair was entering.

“You’re Dr. Andersson, I presume. I’m June Hirata, neurologist and behavioral psychologist. Welcome to the team,” she greeted Leah with a smile. June’s voice was smooth and thoroughly wrapped in a British accent.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Leah bowed her head.

“Pleasure’s all mine,” Dr. Hirata answered in a charming tone.

“I’m really looking forward to working with you, Dr. Hirata,” Leah said smiling.

“Please, call me June. We’re all equals here, we’re friends. Besides, ‘Dr. Hirata’ reminds me of my father,” June laughed, “our relationship as a team is, in my eyes, crucial to our success. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I would,” Leah grinned at her. The sadness that had been weighing her down, was forgotten; for a few moments Leah felt as light as a feather.

“Great. I look forward to getting to know each other. I’m sure we’ll be fast friends,” June winked and sat at the elliptical table in the larger wing of the room.

“Introductions done? Great. We’ve got work to do,” Ethan said walking in, he briskly passed by Leah. The smell of his light cologne wafting in the air around him. Baz chuckled and June rolled her eyes at him. Apparently, they also had to deal with Ethan’s moods. Ethan was already sitting when the door finally shut with a loud clicking sound.

“We have a patient coming in from Manhattan Presbyterian,” Ethan explained projecting the patient’s chart, an abdominal CT on the front page. Leah couldn’t help it, her eyes widened, and her mouth popped open as she sat down next to June.

“Describe the patient,” Baz said looking at his fingers.

“The patient is a forty-five-year-old Asian-American male,” Ethan answered.

“What are his symptoms?” June asked Ethan.

“He presented to the ER with a fever, vomiting and diarrhea. He was treated for the flu,” Ethan said, “he returned nine days later with enlarged lymph nodes, abdominal pain and a rash on his shoulder.” Ethan got up as he was speaking and started writing notes on the white board.

“What did his former doctors think it was?” Baz asked.

“They thought it was Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Dr. Andersson, could you tell me why it wouldn’t be that?” Ethan asked turning to you.

“At first glance, on would think it to be an atypical presentation of the disease since, we can see the patient does not experience weight loss. On a more microcytic level, looking at his blood tests, we can see that there is no sign of excessive lymphocytic activity, but inflammation and his WBC is through the roof,” Leah said staring at Ethan. He was staring back at her; his blue eyes clashing with her hazel ones. He thought he’d caught her off guard, but he was wrong. He let himself look surprised for a moment, before washing the look off his face, smiling at her slightly at her before returning his attention to Baz and June.

Behind his glasses, Leah could see that Ethan was exhausted and his mind was troubled. Suddenly, she started feeling guilty for yelling at him the night before. Leah’s eyes fell to the table. She had yelled at him, cursed at him, she told him she didn’t care anymore: that last part wasn’t true, she was just so exhausted from his mood swings which had to dictate what they were constantly.

Leah glanced up at him. His hair was still vaguely damp from what she presumed had been a last-minute shower. Leah wondered where he had slept, if he’d gone home to stare at the ceiling or if he’d got so drunk, he didn’t remember where he lived so he’d crashed at the hospital. Naveen had told her it had happened before, so she wouldn’t have been surprised to find him sleeping in his office.

The senior doctors sped the conversation up working their way through questions about numerous diseases, leaving Leah wading on her own. She felt out of her depth, yet she was fascinated by everything around her. _How is it that they’re already doing the differential?_ Was she in the right place? Was she supposed to be there? Had Ethan chosen correctly? Had Dr. Emery been right about how biased he is toward her?

When she snapped out of her train of thought, the doctors were almost done with the differential diagnosis: they hadn’t even seen the patient yet. Leah was drowning in self-doubt, she felt totally out of her league.

“I know you said there wasn’t any, but what about the family history or any history at all?” Leah asked. The three doctors turned their gazes towards her.

“Uhm... there’s nothing here, the former hospital didn’t ask such in depth questions,” June said.

“Six months ago, the patient was however admitted to the hospital for flu-like symptoms and a rash on his arm. It sounds like we’re looking a chronic inflammation,” Ethan said adjusting his tie.

He swallowed then glanced at Leah. Her face paler than he last remembered it, she looked well, but something was off. His eyes trailed over her body. His eyes dropped to her hands which were hastily knotted together, her knuckles white with tension but there were new scars on them, as if she had gotten a cat. He lifted his gaze to her eyes, which he found were staring at him the whole time, he looked away and tried not to let the blush creep onto his face. He looked back at her when he realized she had looked away, turning away from him. She looked thinner, not frail, but stronger, leaner. Her eyes looked glazed over and vaguely bloodshot. She looked tired, like she hadn’t been sleeping any more than three hours per night; she had deep purple bags under her eyes, even though she had tried to cover them with some makeup. _What happened to my bubbly Rookie? Did she just get bad news? Did I do this? Is today some important date I forgot about?_ Ethan pelted himself with questions, and, in the end, he reached no conclusion. He grimaced at the fact he’d called her _his_ Rookie. He felt stupid and was even more curious to find out what was going on with her. Ethan had woken up around three a.m. and had slowly walked to the hospital where he had crashed on the couch in his office. Six a.m. had arrived way too soon.

“Did they biopsy it? Had he been on any medication beforehand?” Baz asked.

“Any history of dermatitis?” June asked.

“Nope,” Ethan said, shaking his head. He was sitting back in a comfortable office chair, twirling a dry-erase marker in his hands. Leah was having trouble concentrating, her breathing was erratic, and she couldn’t stop bouncing her leg up and down. She held her breath for as long as she could to get her breathing under control. Ethan had been staring in her direction for quite a few minutes. _Maybe he’s actually a hologram and just got frozen,_ she thought. She smirked to herself. Apparently, her sense of humor was still intact and functioning. She cleared her throat, coughing slightly and he snapped out of his daydream, his eyes refocusing on the papers he had in front of him.

“It could be cutaneous Kikuchi disease,” said June stretching in her chair. Her and Baz looked so at easy, so relaxed. _Did they know about Ethan and Leah? Had they suspected anything? Had they been suspicious of how well Ethan had spoken about Leah?_ Leah’s mind wouldn’t shut up. She pinched herself.

“The symptoms _do_ add up,” Baz answered leafing through a Dermatology handbook.

“Yeah, I agree,” Ethan said stifling a yawn. Leah was about to say something, but a knock at the door interrupted her.

“Doctors, the patient has arrived. We’ve brought him to room 652,” Danny, the nurse, said smiling and waving at Leah. They had seen a lot of each other during the summer since he and Sienna had been hanging out more and more often.

“Excellent, Danny. Dr. Andersson run a biopsy and a complete blood panel. If we’re correct, we’ll begin the patient on a treatment plan of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and prednisone,” said Ethan.

“And what if we’re wrong?” Leah asked.

“We’ll re-evaluate,” Ethan said. He had already got up from his chair and was making his way around the room.

“But we won’t need to,” June chimed in.

“Team dismissed. I’ll page you if something comes up,” Ethan said clapping his hands against the back of a chair.

Leah was freaking out. They had been so quick at everything: they diagnosed a patient without even looking at him. _Am I expected to be able to do this?_ she thought. Leah nearly jumped out of her chair when Baz laid a hand on her shoulder.

“I made the same face the first few days I was on the team. You’ll get used to it,” he smiled.

June and Baz left a few moments later after picking up a few copies of medical journals and some mail that had arrived. Ethan quickly made his way to his desk and put on his glasses before sitting down and opening his laptop.

“After you’re done with our patient you can go see Ines and Zaid for further assignments,” Ethan said staring at his computer screen, “you’ll be balancing your work here with your usual resident duties. Now that you’re a second year, it’ll include rotations at the free clinic.”

Leah imagined yelling at him to look at her, at least when they were talking, and not freeze up and stare at her when he thought she wouldn’t notice.

“Yes Dr. Ramsey,” Leah said quietly. She was still looking at him, wishing subconsciously that he would look at her like he used to. She stared harder at him.

“Will we always diagnose patients without seeing them?” Leah asked finally.

“No, but we’re often asked to help hospitals all over the country, so it’s good to keep our blind diagnosis skills sharp,” Ethan answered, turning towards her. He stared at her, sensing her hesitation and that her mind was full of doubts, thoughts whirling around non-stop.

“Are you okay, Leah?”

Her heart stopped, the thoughts whizzing about in her mind seemed to finally stand still and stop making noise.

What—yeah—actually no, could we talk?” she asked stuttering a few times. Ethan looked at her, Leah could hear the wheels in his head turning.

“About the job or about us?” he asked tentatively.

“About the job. Professional, just like you want,” she said in a subtly sarcastic tone. Strangely enough, Ethan seemed not to notice it as he made his way across the room to sit next to her. He readjusted his glasses on his nose and propped his head up on one elbow. _Your head must be killing you, huh?_ Leah thought.

“I’m all yours,” Ethan breathed.

“How can I be more involved next time, Dr. Ramsey?” Leah asked. She was having a hard time pronouncing the ‘Dr. Ramsey’ part of the sentence, almost as if it left a foul taste in her mouth each time.

“Did you see what Baz and June were doing?” he asked her.

“They asked questions,” she answered rubbing her eye.

“Yeah. Asking questions helps us examine the problem as a team. I don’t want you to be afraid to speak up. Your silence doesn’t help me.”

“But—what if I ask the wrong questions?” she said looking at her knees.

“There’s no such thing,” he answered. Her shot up and collided with his.

“Yeah like ‘there are no stupid questions’,” she joked.

“God, no. There are _plenty_ of those.” he said, “but even stupid questions can lead a team member to ask the right question and thus to finding the right answer.”

She didn’t know if he was serious or if he’d answered her in the same tone. _Ugh, Ramsey and his undetectable sense of humor._

“So basically, you’d rather I ask stupid questions than none at all?” Leah said.

“More or less. I also need you to spend every spare minute you have reading journals and handbooks. I want you turn yourself into a walking disease encyclopedia. You can’t diagnose unless you study. If the patients we saw had more common diseases… they’d never have been referred to us in the first place.”

“Got it,” she said smiling. She was almost panicking on the inside. She made a mental note to go to the library on the seventh floor to grab a stack of medical journals and have one with her at all times, also a notepad and a pen.

“So, what did you think of the team? It was the three of us working under Naveen last year, before he put himself out to pasture,” Ethan said.

“You mean ‘became Chief of Medicine’?” Leah laughed. He was _way_ too relaxed. _Ugh, why does he relax like that if we can only be colleagues? Why?_ she thought. His demeanor towards her pleased her yet aggravated her.

“Precisely.”

“They both seem very nice, and I hope to get to know them both a bit better.”

“They’re both hard to dislike. June is great with people, she likes to get nosy, so watch out, and like to find out what makes them tick. She was the youngest member to ever join the team, before you, of course. She stalked Naveen around and stole his charts, solving the case and coming up with detailed treatment plans. I honestly still joke with Naveen about letting her join the team only because he was scared of her.”

“What about Baz?”

“He’s proof genetics aren’t anything! Well—he’s been on the team for a few years, after he moved here to be closer to his brother.”

“Has Zaid changed _that_ much?” Leah asked.

“Not at all—supposedly the Chief cleared it with Zaid before letting Baz join, but Zaid never seemed very happy about it. I’ve heard a rumor that it was actually Baz dressed like Zaid,” Ethan gossiped. By this point he was smiling fully, and Leah would have laughed at the fact that _he_ had paid attention to a rumor, but she was enjoying herself.

“Huh, so what else has changed besides you listening to rumors?” she grinned. His ears reddened slightly.

“I don’t pay any mid to rumors,” he smiled.

“So, any suggestions on how to get along with the team?”

“Watch out for June’s nosiness, and Baz lives and breathes authenticity… so—I can’t believe I’m actually saying something so banal— ‘be yourself’,” Ethan said looking at her intently. _Stop staring at her, Ramsey! You wanted to keep it professional, didn’t you? Do you want to give her whiplash?_ he scolded himself.

“Ouch, that must have stung! Still, you’re the only person you can say ‘banal’ so casually,” Leah grinned.

“You’ll never hear it again, so don’t hold your breath,” he grinned.

“Is that a challenge?” she asked leaning her elbows on the table and sighing. He barked a laugh.

“What is it?” Ethan asked going back to being serious.

“Nothing—I just thought I was ready for this year. How is it that I feel like a clueless intern again?” she said sounding exasperated.

“Because, comparatively speaking, you _are_ clueless,” he answered.

“Gee, thanks for the self-esteem booster,” she said.

“it wasn’t an insult. You get to spend your second year in a small room packed full of nearly three decades of medical knowledge and experience. Let it inspire you to be better and to want to be better, a better doctor, a better person,” he said still looking at her. Leah was mesmerized, he looked so passionate when he talked about medicine and what her future in that room would hold. His passion was tangible, hell, it was contagious.

“Leah? You’re staring at me?” he said after a few seconds. He had finished speaking and she hadn’t answered.

“Sorry—Your glasses, they make you look smart, but—” she started.

“What?”

“They make it harder to see your eyes,” she confessed blushing.

“Fine, I’ll take my disguise off, but only if you don’t mind looking at a smug moron,” he said removing his glasses. Leah laughed and Ethan joined her, they were both still eyeing each other. Their gazes now more relaxed; they were looking at each other like they’d known each other forever.

Leah leaned tentatively across the table and touched his hand, slowly moving further in order to hold it.

“Leah…” Ethan muttered as he subconsciously started caressing her hand with his thumb.

“I know. Just—I’m sorry for yelling at you last night,” she cut him off.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll be okay, we’ll make it work,” he said. It looked like he was trying to convince himself more than anything.

“Yeah,” Leah mumbled, sadness leaking into her voice. Ethan looked at her then returned to gazing at their hands. He wanted, _he needed_ , to do so much more, yet he was paralyzed. He knew that if he took her hand in his properly, he would kiss her like she deserved to be kissed, he would hug her and not want to let her go. This wasn’t the moment nor the place. He wanted to steal her away from other people’s eyes for a weekend and spend two days at his apartment so he could really relax and be with her.

Just as he looked back at her, their eyes meeting once again, Baz strode in.

“Forgot my pager! That could have been _very_ bad,” he laughed. Before Baz could assess the situation, Ethan and Leah bolted upright and to opposite sides of the room. They were eyeing Baz like he’d just trodden over a dog’s tail on purpose. Their eyes then locked on each other, they were breathing heavily, adrenaline making their hearts pump faster.

“Huh, yes, it’s just there on the table,” Ethan said still looking at Leah. Baz picked it up and basically jogged back out of the room grinning at both of them.

“Thank you, Dr. Ramsey for the—advice. I’ll go run those tests right away,” Leah said looking at him intently. He knew what she meant, and she knew he had understood. Ethan wanted nothing more to tell her off for looking at him so longingly but also wanted to close the gap between them. He needed her touch. He needed the current that ran between them, her perfume, her touch. _What are you doing to me?_ his mind yelled at her as he stared at her silently.

“Great. Thank you, Dr.—Leah,” he answered.

“Dr. Leah, I’d never thought about,” he grinned before stepping out of the room. On the other side of the threshold, she slumped against the wall for a second and sighed, letting the pain of leaving the room wash over her.

She walked away before her ears could pick up the sound of Ethan throwing his eyeglass case again a wall and curse loudly.

Leah’s day had gone by fairly quickly, she knew she only had to meet her intern and then she could go back home. She really was exhausted, and the two and a half hours of sleep, along with the subtle hangover weren’t treating her too kindly.

She met Ines and Zaid at the third-floor nurses’ station and yawned. She then turned toward Zaid and stared him down. A chuckle escaped her mouth.

“What?” he barked.

“Nothing, Dr. Mirani,” Leah smiled and turned to face the group of interns she hadn’t noticed before.

“Okay, people! Welcome back second-years, and welcome interns! You guys will be assigned a second-year resident for you to assist and shadow—” Ines started.

“So, while this project screams ‘apocalypse’, we’re going to shoot for moon and go for ‘mild natural disaster’,” Zaid interjected sarcastically. Leah rolled her eyes. He glared at her. Almost getting herself fired and her license revoked the year before wasn’t exactly working in her favor.

“I know everyone’s excited but bear in mind to keep a close eye on your interns today, _especially today_ ,” Ines added.

“If your intern so much as sneezes in the same room as the Governor, I’ll personally write a ten-page letter for the both of you to be transferred to a hospital in Antarctica,” Zaid threatened.

“Dope,” Elijah muttered.

Ines and Zaid then started pairing interns and residents.

“You okay, Leah?” said Elijah.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I couldn’t sleep last night,” Leah said. It wasn’t a complete lie technically.

“Dr. Andersson,” Zaid said pointing at her, “you’re with Dr. Esme Ortega. Esme, come on up.”

Leah was freaking out. She barely had her shit together and now she was supposed to work on becoming a human disease encyclopedia, do clinic hours and train an intern?!

Leah seriously needed a good run down at the skyline.

As Esme made her way towards Leah, she did a double take. Esme was the woman from the night before.

“So, we meet again,” Leah smiled shyly.

“I guess so. Nice to meet you, Dr. Andersson,” Esme said.

“Please, call me Leah. Dr. Andersson makes me feel like I’m my father.”

“Okay,” the intern smiled.


End file.
